Concepts

This section describes the core concepts around how Contensive renders a document.

Contensive Creates Documents by Executing Add-ons

A document is typically an html document or a json document. An Add-on is a feature created by a developer to be executed in an application.

A simple add-on example that displays the words "Hello World"
Create an add-on record with:
name = "helloworld"
isRemoteMethod = true (this lets the addon be run from a URL)
copy = "Hello World"
Test the addon by hitting the URL http://contensive.io/helloworld
Edit the addon and change it to render and an entire html document with:
Html Document = true
Test the addon by hitting the URL http://contensive.io/helloworld

Add-ons are Organized into Collections

A collection is a grouping of add-ons and other resources used for a feature. An example of a feature might be a Blog. The Contensive Blog Collection includes all the add-ons, database tables, javascript files, css styles, etc. required for the Blog feature. The Blog collection can be installed on any website create using a Contensive application and the blog is ready to use.

Collections can also be exported from a site into a zip file download. You typically develop features on a development environment, export the collection and install it on your staging and/or production environment.

Create a Getting-Started collection, export it using the Add-on Manager and install it on another site.
Create an Add-on Collection Record with just a name.
Edit the helloworld add-on and add it to the new collection.
See that the add-on is now available in the navigation on the left.
Use the Add-on manager to export the collection zip file.
Upload the collection zip file to a different site.
Test that the helloworld add-on is installed and working.